Contributed and earned (program) revenue are the two financing streams with the greatest impact on operations, so they typically are of most interest to arts researchers and managers. But an arts nonprofit’s total revenue may also have elements from investments, membership dues, rents, unrelated businesses, and perhaps other sources. Because of financial reporting regulations, revenues include not only the investment income stream from reserves and endowments, but also the changes in the values of those investments.

In the Local Arts Index, we did not analyze those other areas in detail; focusing instead on program and contributed revenues, which have the greatest impact on operations. By contrast, this indicator simply looks at total revenue brought in by local arts organizations from all sources, so it incorporates all of these other revenue streams.

The indicator is calculated by taking 2012 total revenues for arts nonprofits in each county, divided by its 2012 population. For any given county, average per capita revenue from these other sources (besides earned and contributed) can be estimated by subtracting the sum of program revenue and contributed revenue from this total.

Fast Facts from the Arts Index

International cultural tourism proves recession-proof. Arts travelers are ideal tourists—they stay longer and spend more. The U.S. Dept of Commerce reports that the percentage of int’l travelers including museum visits on their trip has grown annually since 2003 (17% to 24%), while those including concerts and theater performances have increased five of the past seven years (13% to 17% since 2003).